Make No Promises
by Paige Woods
Summary: * Yay! CH. 2 ^* Seven years ago, everything went wrong for the trio. Now, in the present, a new evil has come, hiding in the shadows waiting to strike. The evil wants to get rid of the three heirs of the Hogwarts founders.
1. Default Chapter

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Make No Promises 

Chapter 1:: Framed 

By: hermioneharry4ever

Out of all of wizard history, every wizard or witch knows of the tale. The tale of Voldemort finally being defeated by the famous Harry Potter, and his friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. As the tale goes, the three friends overpowered Voldemort, and afterwards, Harry Potter proposed to Hermione Granger. Hermione Granger accepted, and became Mrs. Potter one year after the defeat of Voldemort. 

As the tale says, within six years of being a married couple, they had three kids. At the end, they lived happily ever after. But all of that was a lie. Harry and Hermione did not have three kids, Hermione did not become Mrs. Potter within the six years. And Harry, Hermione, and Ron did not live happily ever after when Voldemort was killed. But, it was true, Harry Potter did proposed to Hermione, and she accepted. 

But at the alter, Harry and Hermione were standing, and when Harry Potter was asked if he took Hermione for his wife, he hesitated for a moment. Then said no, and ran out of the church. Ron Weasley followed Harry out of the church. Hermione started crying, and followed the two boys out of the cathedral. There, outside of the church, the three friends were yelling at each other on their top of lungs. When all of the yelling stopped, the three friends decided they should separate, and never, ever see each other again. 

But that was seven years ago. Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger went their own separate ways, and had followed the agreement. They didn't talk, or make up. But, once said, you should never dwell on the past...

~*~

Harry Potter heard his alarm clock going off. He moaned, and hit the snooze button. Harry had returned to the muggle world, and worked at a restaurant. Harry Potter had changed a lot the past seven years. He was now the bully of the adult world, and this drew women to him. 

Harry had took the memory of his Hogwarts years, and put it on a piece of paper. The piece of paper was buried out by the lawn that was a Kings Cross with pictures of his old Hogwarts days. Even though he did that, Harry Potter still had his wand, and was using it as personal gain. 

On his nights off, he was at his favorite bar, dancing with all of the women that he could. Harry would be seen drunk, walking back to his house, with a woman. The woman was always different each night. 

He lived in a run down apartment, that was in a bad neighborhood. Rats could be seen climbing the walls, or getting into food that was left out. The walls were all run down, and all of his things were old, or second hand. The Gringotts bank account was empty by the second year the trio had split up.

The alarm sounded again. Harry moaned, and shut it off. Now that he was wide awake, he rolled over, and smiled. There was a girl with dark blonde hair, and with hazel eyes. She was naked under Harry's bed covers. 

The girls eyes snapped open, and she sat up. Harry was watching her with lust in his eyes. The girl looked at him. 

" What time is it?" She asked.

Harry looked at the alarm clock. " Ten o'clock." He said simply. 

The hazel eyes widen. The girl jumped out of his bed, and started putting on her clothes in a rush. Harry's eye's narrowed.

" What's the rush?" He asked. 

The girl looked at him in amazement, then frowned. " I forgot. You don't go to your job. Anyway, for your information, I have a very good job, and intend to keep it." The girl looked at Harry, while fumbling with the back of her earring. " I would be seeing you again, if you remember my name." 

Harry's mind quickly thought of a name. " Betsy?" He hoped it was right. 

The girl sighed. " I knew it. Your just on of those creeps who is full of lust. Anyway, my name is Nikki." The girl stormed out the room. 

" Nikki! Come back!" Harry yelled from his bed. The sound of the apartment door could be heard slamming. Harry sighed.

~*~

By the time Harry had got out of bed, and to work, he was fifty minutes late. Harry hoped that his boss didn't notice. As he walked though the front door, he froze. His boss was standing there, and a grim face. 

" H-hello sir." Harry manage to stuttered out. 

" Potter! Is there some reason why you were late?" His bossed rounded on him. 

" N-no sir. Just slept in." 

The boss looked at Harry with no pity on his face. " Well, sleep in all you want. Your fired!" 

" But, I need the money!" Harry wined. 

" Well, find some other jobs. You aren't to be needed here any longer." The boss showed no mercy. Harry groaned, and slumped out of the job. That was the second job that he had lost in three months. 

A thought traveled through his head. It was about Hermione. He stilled loved her, and felt angry with himself when he thought about running out on her. 'But, she deserves better than an asshole like myself.' Harry usually thought. He had often occasionally thought about his old life. 

As Harry was walking back to the apartment, he saw a bar. He smiled wickedly as he went inside the bar. All he really needed now was a couple of beers to make every regretful thought go away...

~*~

Ron Wealsey was walking off the field, with his broomstick leaning on his shoulder. He had a very successful life, being the captain and keeper for the Chudley Cannons. The coach had revised a whole new team, and for the first time in years, they won the Quidditch Cup. 

All of the team players were talking to each other, but as always, after practice, Ron walked off the field alone. He too had regrets of the big fight seven years ago, but stayed away from Hermione and Harry. 

Seamus Finnigan jogged up to Ron. " Hey, Ron, did you know that my Mum is throwing a party for all of us?" 

Ron starred at Seamus in amazement. " What for? We haven't won the Quidditch World Cup yet." 

" Well, it's good as ours. I mean, the Wasps don't have a very good chasers. Too bad we don't have Harry on this team." Seamus said. 

The red-haired boy just looked onto the ground. He didn't say anything. 

Seamus frowned, " Ah, cheer up, Ron. It's not your fault that Harry turned into an asshole." 

Ron starred at Seamus. " How'd you know about that?" 

" Ah, Neville went to the muggle world, and saw Harry walking home with another tramp. He was too afraid to go up to him. Neville says that he was drunk. Hermione would be mad. I would have thought that she raised you two better." Seamus joked. 

" Har, Har," Ron said sarcastically. 

~*~

Five hours later, forty-three glasses of beers later, Harry Potter was slouching at the bar, looking through his empty glass. The bartender was standing before him. 

" 'Ore" Harry said lopsidedly.

The bartender had a scowl on his face. " You can't have more. You've well exceeded the legal alcohol limit." 

" I 'ant 'ore, 'O gives me somes," Harry said drunkenly.

The bartender shook his head. " If you don't leave my pub, I'll call the Police on you." 

Harry didn't have a change in expression. Nor he didn't move. " I 'ants mores." 

The bartender glared at him, and walked off. It was then that Harry realized what was happening. He sighed, and laid himself down on three stools. He must've fell asleep, because when he looked up, there was four ministry wizards looking down on him, with their wands out. Harry narrowed his eyes, and glanced at the edge of the counter, his wand was lying there. How did it get there from out of his pocket? 

One of the ministry wizards spoke. He looked like fifty-five years old, and winkles speckled his face, but he had brilliant blue eyes. " Harry Potter," the old wizard said, " You are hereby being hold in custody for killing Alfred Williams. Your wand in being hold in a safe. You are to come with us." 

Harry's mouth dropped. A sudden pain came inside of his head. It wasn't his scar though. It was the after effects of the beer that he had, but Harry manage to get something out. " I didn't kill anybody!" He testified. 

An younger ministry wizard spoke. " You can tell that to your attorney. If you don't have one, then we will get you one. You will have a trial." The wizard seemed like he had practiced it a lot of times.

Harry looked over where he last saw his wand. It wasn't there. Now he had no choice, but to go with the ministry officials. He was now going back to the world he had once loved, but he didn't want to. 

~*~

" You're late, Hermione." Ginny said, waiting by her horse. Hermione had just appeared by her. Hermione nodded, and walked into the stables. 

" I know Ginny. And I'm sorry. I just got caught up in work. The person who I was working with kept coming up with different stories about what happened, and I don't really know if one of them is exactly true." Hermione recalled while she was putting the saddle blanket, and saddle onto her horse called Socks. 

Hermione had took up horseback riding with Ginny about an year after Hogwarts. Of course, Hermione, being the way that she was, had lessons on how to ride a horse. She now was in horse shows. Her horse was brown, and on the back was white freckles. The mane was a light brown. But the most unique thing about Socks was that he had white fur on each of his legs that went up about to his knees. 

" It's always all work, and no play with you." Ginny said, while jumping upon her horse. Hermione did the same. 

" I can't help that. My supervisor wants me to get another award, so he'll look good, and he keeps giving me all of the hard cases." They had now made their horses to walk, side by side. 

" When are you going to have fun though Hermione? I mean, you're twenty-five years old, and you're still a Virgin." 

Hermione stopped as she heard those words out of Ginny's mouth. She had took her hands off of the reins, and they were now at the sides. She had a miserable look on her face. Ginny looked around, and saw the face. She had said the wrong thing. Ginny reared her horse around, and went to Hermione. 

" Hermione, I'm sorry. I know that things aren't going well with your love life. You haven't had a date since five years. You wouldn't even let me set you up." 

" Ginny," Hermione said quietly. But that had caught her attention, and she had stopped rambling. 

" I'm sorry. I won't say anything about that topic. What was the topic anyway?" Ginny pretended, but Hermione got a slight smile on her face, and had her horse gallop. Ginny followed on her horse. 

" No, it's okay, Ginny. It's not your fault. I just... I, well, I still have feelings for Harry deep down in my heart, but I still hate him a the same time. I mean, I just remember his face, and his beautiful eyes, then hates gets into me, and tell me that I could have been Mrs. Potter, and have a wonderful life." Hermione explained. 

Ginny nodded, but didn't say anything. 

~*~

Harry stood at the front of the courtroom wearing Bright Yellow robes. The judge in front of him looked familiar, but he couldn't figure out who it was. Finally, when the judge spoke, he remembered the drawl. It was Millicent Bulstrode. Harry groaned. Now he would have a harder time to get out of this mess.

Millicent Bulstrode talked with the guard, and then said " Mr. Potter." 

" Y-yes?" Harry asked. 

" You are going to have a fair trial. I believe that you don't have an attorney?" 

Harry bit his bottom lip. " Yes, that's right." 

Millicent glared at Harry for a few seconds, and then clapped her hands. She turned her chair so that it would face a group of five people. " Well, which one of you people wants to have one of your recruits to defend Mr. Potter." None of the supervisors rose their hands. 

The doors opened, and a man with greasy, black, mild cut hair scampered in. He was carrying in a briefcase. The briefcase latches came undone, and papers full the floor. He bent and pick them up. 

" Michel, what are you doing? You should have been here ten minutes ago." Millicent scowled. She looked too annoyed. Harry began to wonder if the only reason why Millicent Bulstrode liked this job was only because she could boss people around.

" I'm sorry, but I think that my employee should work on this case than any other." Michel had a high voice, like he had never gone through that stage of puberty. 

Millicent just looked at him. " This is Harry Potter we are talking about." 

" Yes, I know. She would be able to work hard with him. Please!" Michel pleaded. 

Millicent relented. She turned back to Harry. " You will be in room 535 in this building tomorrow. Your attorney is going to decide what to do with you. In the meantime, you are going to stay locked up." 

~*~

Hermione sat on her couch at her home. She had one of the nicer homes in Hogsmeade, having the help of Hagrid, Sirius, Ginny, Colin, Dennis, Seamus, and Dean to make it. She had decorated the house herself, so it had a comfortable look to it. The house itself had six bedrooms, three bathrooms, and an office. 

Cookshanks was with her, curled up on the couch. Hermione had a pad of parchement with her. She had been thinking about what Ginny had said about having fun. The pad of parchment had one-two-three going down the edge. At the top it said _What to do for fun._ So far she had nothing on the list. 

Hermione bit the end of the quill, and looked at Cookshanks. " Cookshanks, do you have any ideas?" She asked. The cat just purred.

Five minutes later, Hermione had five things scribbled in her neat writing. But the thing was, when was she going to do them. Hermione scanned her list, and finally came across going to a club. 

She sighed. " Cookshanks, maybe I should go and get Ginny then we can go to a club. Maybe not. Colin would be home by now. I'll go by myself." Hermione stood up to her height, and started walking to the blue-carpeted stairs. The was a tapping noise at the window. Hermione turned around, and saw an owl. 

After giving it some food, she read the letter. She looked at the cat and sighed. " I don't think I'll be having fun tonight though. Work calls. And anyway, I didn't have anything to wear to the club." 

Cookshanks scowled at Hermione, and she just shrugged. 

~*~  


" Ah, you're here! Finally, I just sent you the owl like two-hours ago 'Mione!" Said somebody when Hermione apparated in. Hermione glared at the greasy haired person.

" Michel, First of all, don't call me 'Mione. Second, stop being drastic. You only sent the owl twenty minutes ago. So what did you do now?" Hermione sighed as she sat down in a chair. 

Michel smiled. " You're going to like who you're working with. I set it up with Millicent." Hermione groaned. Millicent and Hermione hated each other. 

" Who is it?" Hermione groaned. 

" Can't tell you. You'll hate me." Michel said casually. " Just meet your client in room 535 tomorrow. All I can tell you is that'll this would make US look good." 

" You and social standings, Michel. I'm leaving." Hermione said, standing up. Michel caught her wrist, and Hermione turned around. Michel was starring at her with love in his eyes. 

He made his lips and tongue move, " Hermione, I'm going to a party tonight. Would you want to be my date?" Michel asked. 

~*~

Coming up in Chapter 2: _All isn't well_: 

Hermione's decision, and Ginny's new information...

A/N: This beginning was just an introduction. It explains all of the problems people were having. I hoped you liked it. Yes, this is the story that I rushed on The Looking Glass to write this one. I hoped it was good. Writing this took about five days. 

The cliffhanger can go anyway, so don't think you know it. Hermione still loves Harry, and afraid to go out with other guys, YET, she wants to have fun...so have fun guessing what it would be about. Evil, yes I am. 

As I'm guessing, I think that many of you think I'm mean for doing that to Harry. I'm not saying anything about this topic, except that he had a reason, if you don't know why he did that, then I suggest you reread that section when he was walking home from his old job. Well, that's all, 

Ta-Ta-4 now 

--hermioneharry4ever--

( This Chapter was finished on:: 02/28/02)

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter Characters, J.K Rowling owns them to some extent. 

Claimer: I own this story, along with Michel, and the horse name Socks. 


	2. All isn't Well

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Make No Promises

Chapter 2: All isn't well

By: hermioneharry4ever

_He made his lips and tongue move, " Hermione, I'm going to a party tonight. Would you want to be my date?" Michel asked. _

~*~

Hermione was shocked, she opened and closed her mouth. An surge ran through her body, telling her "NO!" But Hermione ignored the warning, and nodded. " Sure why not? When will you come by to pick me up?" 

Michel smiled, and let go of Hermione's wrist. " I'll come by six, okay?" He asked. Hermione nodded, and went out of the door. 

~*~  


By six, Michel had picked up Hermione, and they both apparated outside of the shop. There was a long line of people waiting. The line was slowly moving when the guards had check if they were old enough to go in. 

Soon it was Hermione's and Michel's turn. They hand their wands to the guard, and the guard inspected it. He nodded, and let them go in. 

The party at the club was fun. Michel took Hermione dancing to some fast songs, but she was never up to a slow song. She had always said that it made her have bad memories. What Michel didn't know, was that that memories were always of Harry and herself dancing. 

" Woo, that was fun." Hermione said as she walked off with Michel. Michel nodded. A woman came up to Michel and asked him to dance. 

" Is that alright?" Michel asked Hermione. Hermione nodded, and smiled. She found a seat, and watch Michel and the woman dance. It was clearly easy to see who Michel liked dancing with, the girl danced better than Hermione. 

A blonde male went over to Hermione with a glass of water.

" Miss, you look like you need this." The male said. Hermione accepted the glass. She watched the male go back to his group of friends as she took a drink of the water.

After the song was over, Michel went back to Hermione. " Want to dance?" Hermione smiled and got up. As she stood, her legs got shaking. She slumped to the ground, and the world was no more. 

~*~

_" Harry? Ron? Where are we?" Hermione asked. She looked around at her surroundings. Hermione was tied up to a post, and there was black storm clouds in the sky. Harry and Ron where standing before her, wands raised. _

" Where are we?" Ron mocked. Hermione noticed that the voice wasn't truly his. " Well, I know where you'll going to be in one minute." 

" Where?" Harry asked, raising his eyebrows, even though he knew the answer. 

" Well, The Mudblood is going to end up in hell." Ron said. The name that Ron had just said stabbed her heart. Tears started falling. 

" Should we get started?" Harry asked. Ron smirked, and both shouted the killing curse.

~*~  


Hermione bolted up in bed. She was shaking all over. Hermione took noticed of her surroundings. She wasn't in the club, but spiders and rodents were over the floor. Hermione looked down, and saw that she was naked. A grasped left her mouth. How stupid could she be to take the glass of water! Her mind screamed. Tears begin falling down her cheeks. 

Hermione got out of bed, searching for her clothes. Her legs were weak, so weak that she could barley walk. They weren't there. She let out a frustrated scream. 

Then she saw a piece of paper on a cardboard box. She grabbed at it, and read it. 

" _Mudblood, _

You shouldn't have come. If you tell anyone, then I pledge to take the pictures of you naked, and somebody else and post them all over the daily prophet. 

Also, don't bother running to Harry Potter, he has his own dealings. 

With the little strength she had left, she apparated to her house. By now her face was red, and tears were escaping at hundred miles per hour. 

~*~

Ginny walked sloppily into her kitchen. Colin was up, and making breakfast. 

" I don't know how you can get up so early in the morning Colin." Ginny griped. Colin just smiled, and handed her the Daily Prophet. Ginny rubbed her eyes, and tore the rubber band off of the newspaper. She gasped at the front page. It said, "_ Single Attorney Raped." _Below it was a picture of a recent picture of Hermione. 

Colin heard his wife gasped. He looked at her, and saw that something was wrong. Colin comforted her, and she told him that Hermione had been raped. He was shocked. Ginny pulled away, and told him that she had to go and see Hermione. 

~*~

When Ginny arrived on the scene, Hermione, crying, picked up a pillow, and threw it at somebody. Ginny saw it was Ron. The pillow stopped in midair. 

" Hermione! Stop it! I'm here to help!" Ron screamed. 

Hermione laid on the couch, and pulled a pillow over her head. Ginny looked at Ron with a look that said, Be- Quiet- Let- Me- Do- The-Talking. She went over, and sat one the little bit of the couch that wasn't taken up by Hermione. Ron sat on the other couch that was across from Hermione and Ginny. 

" Hermione," Ginny said. " Tell me when you're ready. I'm here." Hermione didn't reply, or do anything. Ginny and Ron exchanged looks. Ginny could tell that he had also found out about what happened to Hermione by the newspaper. 

About ten minutes later, Hermione pulled her face from the pillow, but didn't sit up. Her head was turned to the back of the couch, and she begin the speak. " I-it was h-horrible. T-they took p-pictures of me." Hermione said quietly, but Ron and Ginny heard all of it. 

" A-am I-I that easy t-to take over?" Hermione asked. " If I am, then I-I just want to d-die. M-my l-life is h-horrible. I-I try to have fun, and i-it b-blows up in m-my face. T-they took p-pictures of m-me in intimate places." Hermione sobbed. Ginny started massaging her back. " W-what am I-I g-going to d-do? P-people are g-going to t-talk about t-this." 

Ginny pulled Hermione up into a sitting position. She could see that Hermione's face was red, and stained with tears. " You are going to be strong. You are going to now on live happily, no more sadness times. You are going to have fun without it hurting you somehow. I'll make sure that'll happen!" Ginny exclaimed, holding onto Hermione. 

She glanced at Ron, and signaled him to make some tea. Ron caught the message. He got up, and left the room. Hermione cried into Ginny's shoulder. 

After what seemed an eternity, Ron came back with a cup of tea. Ginny made Hermione sip it, and gave the cup to Hermione. 

" What time is it?" Hermione asked a little later. 

" Nine-thirty. Why?" 

Hermione stood up suddenly, " I have to go to work!" Hermione exclaimed. 

" Hermione! You can't go to work like this!" Ginny yelled. 

" I have to, I have a new person to help. I gotta go." Hermione said, before she went up the stairs. She stumbled on a few steps, but got up there alright. 

Ron shook his head. " She's crazy, for going to work like the way she is." 

Ginny narrowed her eyes. " I thought you three had a compromise to never see each other again." 

Ron smirked. " Yup, we did. And I just broke it. I'm glad I did." 

~*~

Hermione ran into work. She didn't care that everyone was giving her 'pity' looks. She got stopped in the hall by one of the secretaries. 

" Oh, miss, we didn't know that you'll be here today because of unfortunate... The criminal is back in his cell." 

Hermione put her right hand to her forehead. " Then bring him to the room 535." She then walked off. 

As Hermione walked into the hallway she stopped suddenly. Standing before her was Michel, with an pleading look on his face. 

" I'm sorry Hermione. I should have stood up to those guys." He said gravely. 

Hermione just shook her head. Anger boiled up in her. " Well, Michel thanks to you, I'm no longer pure." More tears escaped from her eyes. 

" Hermione! It's not my fault. They beat me up!" 

Hermione glared at Michel. " You could have apparated me out of there, or even call for help when I fell. You being beat up is least of my worries. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go and try to convince somebody that they should plead guilty." She walked passed him, and continued to room 535. 

There was a guard standing outside of the room as Hermione made her way up to the door. Hermione showed the guard a piece of paper, and the guard nodded. He gave her a folder, and took his wand, and knocked on the door three times. It opened, and Hermione entered with a bag over her shoulders. 

The table was in the middle of the room. The walls were gray, and there wasn't no windows. Even though there wasn't no windows, the room was fairly bright. At the table, there was two chairs, one on each length of the table. 

Hermione put her bag on the table, along with the folder. A pad of parchment and quill were pulled out of the bag. Not at once, she didn't look at the person who she would be defending, who sat at the other end of the table. 

The folder was opened, and Hermione read the name at the top of the paper. It read, _Harry Potter. _He heart stopped a moment, as she looked up. 

Indeed it was Harry Potter, the one who she hadn't saw for over seven years. They looked into each other's eyes without saying anything. Both lost their knowledge on how to speak. 

Finally, Hermione broke the silence. " Well, how'd you get here?" 

Harry looked away. " I didn't do anything." A thought occurred to him. He had been told that his attorney wouldn't be meeting with him because she got raped. He suddenly looked at Hermione. " Hermione, please say that you're just subbing for the lawyer that's supposed to be here." 

Harry saw Hermione gulped. " No, I am your attorney."

Harry sucked in a deep breathe. " You can't. You shouldn't have got-- Who did this to you? I'm going to kill them!" What he had just said surprised himself. He thought his feelings had gone away! 

Hermione looked down at the table. " I don't want to talk about it." 

He sighed. " Just tell me what happened. Please." 

Harry received a death glare from Hermione. " Harry Potter, I don't want to talk about it. We are only here because you killed a muggle. Now, be quiet, I need to read about what you've done." 

Guilt and regret spread through Harry's body. What if he would have stayed at the alter and married her? She wouldn't have been raped, he would have been there to protect her. 

Hermione looked up as soon as she finished reading the paper. She looked Harry straight in the eye. " There isn't no evidence to say that you aren't guilty, but tons of proof to say that you did killed the bartender named Alfred Williams. Your best bet is to plead guilty, and then maybe your time in Azkaban will decrease, but I doubt it." Hermione said icily. 

" No, I'm NOT pleading guilty. I know that in you heart that you know that I'm not guilty of murder, and I wouldn't hurt a fly. I want a fair trail. Why can't you give me some truth potion? Won't that be more easier?" 

" Some people have been found bypassing the potion. Only a really strong one would do the job, and nobody is out there wants to make a truth potion where plenty of things can go wrong." Hermione exclaimed. She was still using her icing voice. " Harry, even your wand is being used as evidence against you." 

" Has anybody bothered to go look by the bar for evidence that says I didn't kill that ass?" Harry asked, looking deep in her eyes. Hermione glared at him. 

" Yes they have, but nothing was found except proof to use against you." 

Harry sighed, and buried his face with his palm. He was going to lose control. When he had calm down, he looked up. " I want either you or me to go there and find something! I'm innocent. Do you believe me?" 

Hermione looked to the ground, then back up. " I don't know what to believe. I will be back here tomorrow. In the meantime, you have your choice. You can stay here, or have a tracker spell on yourself. If you choose the tracker spell, your location will be watched day and night." 

" I'll take the tracker spell. If I stay here I might loose it." Harry said. Hermione nodded, and pulled out her wand. She muttered a couple of incarnations, and that was it.

~*~  


Ginny sighed. She was in her own bathroom. There was a pregnancy test in an unopened box. That day, after she left Hermione's, she went to the magic baby store. Colin was out taking photographs of a muggles wedding, and wasn't supposed to be home until five that night. 

Their dog made his way in. Ginny glanced at it. " Sammy, what can it hurt?" She picked up the box, and took out the tube. She inserted it into her body, and closed her legs.

She put her hands in her lap. " What if I do have a baby? What would Colin think?" She asked. Sammy barked. Ginny giggled, and picked up a magazine. She didn't have the concentration to read the text, so she just looked at the pictures. 

There was a sudden ringing, and Ginny put down the magazine. She then pulled out the tube, and looked at the dog. 

" This is it. Remember, I would be okay with any results." Ginny said just to reassure herself. She looked at the side of the tube. It had the color pink on it. Ginny looked at the box, and jumped up and down. " Sammy! I'm pregnant!" She cheered, and ran out of the bathroom. 

~*~

By the time that the sun was up, Harry was with Hermione at the bar. The bar hadn't been used since the time Harry was caught. They started the search in the inside. They looked everywhere, beneath the tables, in cabinets, underneath the chairs, and even behind the bar. They didn't find anything. 

" Harry, there's nothing here." Hermione said. 

" There's got to be! All I did was fall asleep right there!" Harry said as he pointed to the stool where he sat. 

" And what? You sleep walked, then killed a muggle?" Hermione said sarcastically. 

" No! I don't sleep walk!" Harry exclaimed. Hermione was getting on his nerves. A thought came across his mind, ' Well, maybe she just wants you to go to Azkaban. You practically ruined her life seven years ago,' Harry shook his head to shoo the thought out. 

There suddenly was a beeping noise. Hermione looked down at her wand. She sighed, and pulled it out of her jeans. With a simple wave, the wand made a picture of Ginny. Hermione put her wand back in her jeans. 

" Harry, I have to go now. Ginny needs me. I'll see you the day after tomorrow. Your trail is at that time." Hermione said, and apparated out of the tavern. Harry kicked the wall, and walked out of the bar through the front door. 

~*~

Hermione apparated to her home. Ginny was sitting there, holding Colin's hand. Ginny was smiling along with Colin. Hermione went to sit down across from the couple. 

" Hello Ginny, Colin." She greeted. 

" Hermione! Guess what? I'm pregnant!" Ginny exclaimed. She had a smile on her face. 

The browned hair girl smiled happily. "Congratulations! When did you find out?" 

" Yesterday. I told Colin as soon as he got home, and we went to look at baby stuff!" Ginny exclaimed. Hermione kept her smile, and hugged each of the new parents. 

" When is it due?" Hermione inquired. She saw Colin and Ginny exchanged looks. Colin took a deep breathe. 

" Ginny is already three months pregnant, so it'll be in six weeks. We are counting down." Colin said excitedly. 

Hermione glanced at Ginny's stomach. The baby wasn't showing yet. " You're going have to go shopping pretty soon for new clothes." Hermione told them. Ginny nodded, and looked away. 

" So, how are you feeling?" Ginny asked suddenly. 

" Fine, besides the fact that I have to be Harry's lawyer." Hermione said. 

Ginny's eyes widened. " What?" 

Hermione explained all that happened the past two days. Ginny and Colin were a good audience, listening to what Hermione said, without interrupting her. They soon left, leaving Hermione alone in her house. 

~*~

_There was a mansion, overlooking a minor town. While all of the lights were out on the mansion, there was tiny bits of lights coming from the window on the second floor. The window was facing South, and a young girl crept up to the window. The girl had bushy blonde hair, and brown eyes. But, if you looked a little closer, you could tell that her ears were pointed towards the top. This creature was an elf._

The elf climbed in the window, and crept into the window. Inside there was only one couch, and a fireplace. The young girl elf stole it's way to where the darkest shadow was. 

There was a sudden sound of footsteps coming down through the hallway. The door was opened, and a man with black hair, icy cold eyes stepped in. The man was tall, and had on dark green robes. As the elf saw, there was a snake following after the male being. 

Following after the man was another man, who was almost tiny as the female elf, if not a foot taller. The taller one of the men sat on the couch, while the littler one assembled himself by the door. 

" Wormtail, I believe is what my heir called you. Am I collected?" Inquired the male on the couch. 

The shorter one nodded, but didn't say anything. 

" Ah, I see. Voldemort called you that; why did you come?" 

Wormtail looked around the room, but he didn't see the elf deep in the shadows. " Because, I heard that you were going to take down Potter. I wanted to help." 

The black hair person rolled his eyes. " You haven't been keeping up with the darkness news have you? Potter is already in trouble. He'll be going to Akzaban, not seeing light anymore. But, that is part of it. It seems that Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff pledged against me, and also did a spell to have heirs. 

" At the time, I thought that the spell was a dud. But it seems that as of now, their heirs have finally come alive. Darkness needs to rule the world, not light. Muggles need to be killed. They are not like US." 

The tiny man couldn't keep silent. " Why now? Why didn't you come back sooner, than now?" 

Wormtail received a glare. " Do not question me. I am the only one to asked the questions. Is the borders still up between the worlds?" 

Wormtail nodded. " Well, then I'm going to take them down. Ravenclaw was so stupid to have do that. 

The elf had heard enough. She tiptoed across the room, staying to the shadows. The young one crawled through the window to run back to tell the elders of what she had heard.

~*~

Hermione suddenly sat up. The dream came back to her, as she closed her eyes. She took a several deep breathes before opening them again. As she looked at her alarm clock, Hermione saw that there was a note taped to it, and something behind the note...

~*~

Coming up next in chapter 3: 

A/N: Before I say anything- read this first! DON'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ IN THIS CHAPTER! Ok... now that um... message is out... How was that? This is probably as long as I'm going to make each chapter. Even though it might take a little long for me to get the next chapter up. Unlike my other story, " The looking Glass," I'm going to only stay ahead by one chapter. Last time I got too excited, and practically put what will happen next that you shouldn't know until you read it in the authors notes. Well, I'll write more later, 

-- hermioneharry4ever--

--Special Thanks Section for _Chapter 1: Framed_--

E.C.R Potter: No, I understand your review. If someone had wrote the same thing, instead of me, I would have freaked out. But I know where this is going, and I think that this is going to be the only part within the story that is bad, except the raping part. 

Viv: Good point, but having 43 beers might not hurt Harry- remember he's a wizard, and has that protected shield around him. Also, I don't think you want Michael- you'll see why later. 

Allison M. Potter: Thanks! 

Smileygirlo3: Here you go! 

Lucky_Gurl: :-) 

Julie Fisher: Well, I l kind of want to write the fight that they had seven years ago, so you well know, or read the fight somewhere. And about the horse thing- don't underestimate me. The horse will play a big part in the story, and I'm using a horse that I've ridden three times, and is my favorite horse. I don't have any, yet!

-- Disclaimer-- I don't not own the Harry Potter characters, J.K Rowling made them up. I didn't. 

--Claimer-- I own this story. 


	3. Make The Pain Go Away

Make No Promises 

Chapter 3: Please make the pain go away. 

By: hermioneharry4ever ( jes0288@cs.com)

Category: Romance, Adventure 

Keywords: Trails, H/Hr, Elves 

Rating: 'R'

Spoilers: All four books 

Summary: When a big fight breaks up the dream team for seven years, can they get back together before the evil takes over the world? Can Harry get out of Azkaban for what he did? Will Hermione get over what happened to her? 

__

Hermione suddenly sat up. The dream came back to her, as she closed her eyes. She took a several deep breathes before opening them again. As she looked at her alarm clock, Hermione saw that there was a note taped to it, and something behind the note...

Slowly, Hermione reached for the note and whatever was behind it. Taking a deep breathe, she read the note. The note said, 

Just in case you're thinking about taking action- think again. 

Hermione narrowed her eyes. She had a vague idea of what the note meant. But, then again, it could of meant anything. She took a deep breathe to prepare herself of what was behind the anonymous note. Slowly, Hermione put the note behind of whatever it was. Taking one glance at it, her mouth fell with shock. It was a picture of her laying naked- her legs were spread apart and she laid unconsciously on the bed. The one part that Hermione was unaware of was that there wasn't anyone by her. 

Before she could ponder this further, Hermione's door bell was heard. Hermione looked up from the picture, fear in her eyes. Who could be on her door step at this very moment- at this ungodly hour of the morning? The ringing became more persistent. 

" Gosh," Hermione mumbled to herself, regaining her wits. " Were you in Gryffindor or not?" She took the note and the picture and hid them under her pillow. She grabbed a bathrobe and headed down the stairs that were on the right side of her door. Now the ringing was going none-stop. 

As she opened the door, Hermione got a murderous glare. Her glare faded when she found Harry standing on her porch. 

" What are you doing here?" She said with ice in her voice. 

Harry took in a deep breathe. " Well, tomorrow's my trail, and I just, I just wanted you to talk to you." 

Hermione narrowed her eyes. There was no reason for him coming over to her house. They had talked. There was nothing more to talk about. She saw no reason to voice her thoughts. " Harry, we have talked. Now, excuse me now, I need to take a shower." She started closing the door on him, but Harry was quick about it. He stuck his foot in to prevent it closing. 

Using his hand, he wedged the door opened, again. " C'mon Hermione. Let me in." Then he pointed to the sky. " It's going to be storming, and I have no place to go." 

Indeed black clouds were in the sky, but Hermione didn't care about them. She gave Harry a glare before shutting the door. While she was doing so, she said, harshly, " Go to the Burrow. The Weasley's will probably have a celebration for you." 

She shut the door and turned around sliding down the wood of the door. She closed her eyes, and put her head in her palms. Everything seemed to be blowing up in her face. 

Harry yell came to her through the door. " Have a heart Hermione! You did when you were eighteen!" 

Slowly, she drew her head away from her palms. She still had a heart, but everything that had happened... there was no need to take all of the blame on Harry. She knew deep down in her heart that she got over Harry leaving her at the alter; but there was still the pain floating over that forgiveness. Deciding quickly, she stood up, and opened the door for him. 

" Thank you." Harry said softly. Hermione nodded as Harry entered her house. 

" Sit down." She said, crossing her arms underneath her blossom. Harry obeyed her, and sat on one of the couches. " Would you like something to drink? Coffee? Water?" Hermione asked. Though, she didn't want to wait on him, her mothers' voice entered her head telling her to have nice manners. 

Harry nodded. " Coffee." 

As Hermione went through the doorway that was left of the couch that Harry was sitting on, he couldn't help but let his eyes wander around the flat that he was in. The room that he was in had a light yellow paint on the walls, a fireplace, and stairs that went slowly upstairs. When Harry let his eyes stray the walls, they stopped at the wall before him. 

On the wall before him were two shelves. The shelves had pictures, trophies, and medals of all kind. Curiously taking over him, he went towards where the two shelves. As he looked closer, he found out that the pictures had one horse in them. Each of the pictures had the same horse in them. The trophies and the medals each had to do with horses.

Before he could consider anything, Hermione's voice called to him. " Your coffee is ready." 

Harry turned around, and nodded. He then took his seat at the couch. Hermione stood standing behind the other couch. Her hands were still crossed under her blossom. 

It was a while before anyone of them said anything. What was there to talk about to the person who you were going to be married to seven years ago? It was Harry who ruined the silence. " Do you know what is going to happen tomorrow to me?" 

This brought Hermione's eyes up to look at him. She had a stern 'Professor McGonagall' face. She shook her head. " No, I do not." She was uncomfortable. 

" Oh," was Harry's reply. Then he asked another question. " Do you still have the engagement and wedding rings that I gave to you?" 

Guilt spread in Hermione's eyes. One of her arms slipped down to her side, when the other held onto her elbow of the one that was at the side. She bit her lip, but her voice still was harsh. " Why do you care?" 

" I was just wondering." 

" I sold them to get money for my horse." Things were tense between them. 

Harry just nodded, and took another sip of his coffee. There was a angry feeling in his stomach. But, as he concluded, they were her rings, she could do anything with them. 

~*~

Hermione sat there. She was tense as she had ever been in her life. Harry sat next to her in the courtroom. Everyone who was there were silent, waiting for the jury to come out and give whether Harry was guilty or not. Hermione sat there with cold, flecked eyes. No tears were seen coming out. Her heart was stiff; she wanted Harry to be shut away, so she never had to see him again. But something in the bottom of her heart told her that was not true. She wanted to get rid of all of her pain, and in doing so, she was putting it on Harry.

The jury re-entered the courtroom. Their faces were grim, and eyes were guilty of the choice that they had picked. Eleven out of the twelve sat on the chairs that were set up for them. The last one was standing up. That jury member waited until he had the judges attention before saying, " We, the twelve during members, of case 824277 find Harry Potter," the wizard paused for a moment to let the suspense die in. " Guilty of killing Alfred Williams with magic..." 

Harry didn't hear anything else. Time had suddenly stopped in midair. The truth soaked in. He was going to Azkaban, for a crime that he didn't commit. Seven years didn't make him forget about the look of his father's friend when he had escaped from the wizard jail. A new thought entered his mind. This was the last scene he would have saw out of the prison. This was the last time he'll be able to think freely before he was handed to the dementors. 

Hermione watched as Harry was being taken away. Time, too, had stopped for her. She didn't even realize that people all around her were moving. All she was doing was looking at Harry. Her best-friend for all of her schooling was being taken away, her lover seven years ago was being put behind bars. 

Though, she didn't apprehend that there was a single tear zigzagging down her cheek. However, what she did know was that the mean feelings that she had harbored for Harry these last past weeks had gone away. Instead in it's place was a numbing feeling. 

When Harry was passing through the door, he glanced back at Hermione. There, at that point of time, their glazes met. At that point of time, Hermione knew that truth, Harry didn't kill anyone; and as for Harry, he knew that somehow, he'll be safe, no matter what. It was voiced in Hermione's single tear and was all over her eyes. 

*****

Soon, it was three weeks after Harry's trial. Nevertheless, Hermione was still going through work with a dazed look in her eyes. She wouldn't talk to anyone while at work, and after she had gotten home, she still had that gazed look. That numbing feeling had been with her all three weeks and had never gave her a break. 

She didn't listen to any of the conversations about the trial. She knew what they were talking about. How she failed to keep Harry out of Azkaban, and how when he was little he was _expected_ of great things. People went up to her occasionally to ask her whether this was her plan of 'getting back' at Harry for him leaving her at the alter. She would always run away after those questions, and not answer them. But, she knew the truth. At first all she wanted to do was to get back at him for all of the harshness in her life. However now, she wanted to at least talked to him; it didn't seem right. 

It was a month after Harry Potter was put in dementor care. Hermione sat eating lunch at _The Three Broomsticks _with Ginny. Hermione wasn't exactly eating, but was picking at the plate before her. Ginny, however, with the growing, two month year-old baby inside of her, was eating quickly. 

Ginny stopped talking, and looked at Hermione. She tilted her head at looked at her friend. Those months had been nothing much but trouble for Hermione. She hardly ate, and the worst part about it was that her skin was as pale as Malfoy's. Hermione was supporting her head up with her left palm; with her elbow on the table. " Hermione, you ok?" Ginny asked. 

Hermione's eyes darted to the table. _If Harry being sent to Azkaban was fine, though he was innocent is it ok... _she wanted to reply. Instead, she just shook her head. " No, everything's ok." 

The red-haired woman narrowed her eyes. Taking a look down at her empty plate, she decided to forget about it, and take Hermione for a walk. " C'mon, let's ditch this place." She grinned slightly, putting a gallion on the table. 

Hermione walked with Ginny around the infamous wizard town in silence for the first five minutes. It was as if that this time of Harry being gone had taken a deep affect on her than the last time. During her moments of silence, Hermione was trying to forget about the incidents in these past few months; the rape, Harry and Ron coming back into her life on the same day, Ginny's baby, and Harry's predicament. 

Too occupied with her forgetting about the happenings, Hermione didn't realize where Ginny was leading her to. For Hermione's state, Ginny was glad that Hermione didn't realize where they were going. If she did, Hermione would have caused a fit. 

Soon Ginny stopped walking, and turned to her friend. Hermione opened her mouth slightly. " Why did we stop?" 

Ginny sighed. " Look where we are. Go on, look." 

Hermione narrowed her mind and looked around her. There was a lake a little ways away, and as far as she could tell, the water was calm. They were standing in a circle of oak trees, and there were little flowers growing off to the sides. There was also three spots where the grass didn't grow. Each of these spots had their space in front a tree. 

The browned-haired girl whirled around to face Ginny with tears sparkling in her eyes. " Why did you bring me here?" She yelled. She started running off, but before she could exit through the trees , Ginny hand gripped Hermione's upper arm. Hermione turned roughly around to slap Ginny's face, but before her hand could connect with Ginny's cheek, Ginny caught it. 

" Hermione! Stop it!" Ginny exclaimed, still holding onto Hermione. " You can't run away from your past anymore!" 

This only cause more tears to escape Hermione's eyes. Ginny, sensing that Hermione had calmed herself down, moved her best friend to sit on one of the spots without grass. Ginny sat across from her sobbing friend and waited silently for the tears to stop. 

" G-g-ginny, I-I- am s-sorry." 

Ginny nodded. " Are you ready to tell me why you've been silent and moody all month?" 

Hermione crying brown eyes looked up at Ginny. " I-I've b-been m-moody?" She asked. 

Ginny laughed at little. " Oh yes, you have. Are you going to tell me?" 

A sighed escaped Hermione's mouth. There came a point of time when you couldn't hold everything in to yourself. So Hermione told Ginny everything; from the blame being put onto Harry, to how she knew that he was innocent, not guilty of killing the Muggle; from her old feelings that she felt about him coming back. Ginny listened attentively to every sentence that Hermione had said. She waited until Hermione was done before saying her share. 

" Herm, I'm sorry." Ginny suddenly looked at Hermione quizzically. " You really think that Harry Potter is non-guilty of the crime he committed?" 

Hermione looked at Ginny, wiping the tears from her eyes. " Yes, I do. From the look in his eyes..." 

" Then you should do something, and not be mourning around to get Harry out of Azkaban, shouldn't you?" Ginny asked. 

" What can I do? I'm useless. I can't get him out of prison!" Hermione exclaimed. 

Ginny sighed. She opened her arms wide on the sides of her. " Hermione, look around. What do you remember most of this place?" 

Hermione sniffled and looked at the two spots that were empty of any grass. Those two spots were Harry's and Ron's spots. Harry was always on the right side of her, and Ron on the left. This was the place were they were running away from Voldemort's first attack on Hogwarts in fifth year. This was the place where they'd came up all of their old plans. A weak grin appeared on Hermione's face as she remembered all of the pathetic plans that they had come up with- with all of those wrong things canceling out another wrong, making it right. 

As she was thinking about the feeble plans, and idea came to her head. An idea so crazy and rule-breaking as when she was in school! Hermione abruptly stood up, Ginny following her. " Ginny, the trio is going to be together in a week." Hermione said smiling at Ginny. 

Ginny got a wide grin. " I can't wait!" At this sentences, Hermione smiled widely along with Ginny. 

*****

Ron Weasley ran a hand through his red hair. For the past two hours after his Quidditch practice, he had been sitting on the bench that ran in front of his locker. He hadn't changed out of his orange quidditch robes yet, his broom was laying next to him. Since Harry's imprisonment, he'd been okay on the outside, but on the inside, when he was all alone, he would mourn. 

Suddenly he felt someone sat next to him. He didn't care to look who it was. He didn't want to know who it was in that matter. 

" Angry too?" He heard a woman's voice asked. 

Ron looked up. He saw Hermione sitting next to him. " Hermione, what are you doing breaking the agreement that we had a while ago?" He asked. 

Hermione smiled a little. " As I recalled, you didn't care about breaking the agreement when I got raped. However, the agreement faded the time when both you and Harry came into my life on the same day." 

Ron rolled his eyes, and Hermione nudge him in his side. " Why did you come here in the first place?" Ron asked. 

Hermione sighed. " I've got an idea." 

" And..." Ron started. 

" We get Harry out of Azkaban!" Hermione said weakly, though she already knew what Ron was going to say. 

Ron starred at her in amazement. " Hermione! No one hasn't even break out of Azkaban before!" He paused for a moment. " Except Sirius." 

Hermione nodded. " I've got it all planned out." She said, before explaining to Ron her plan. 

*****

Harry laid in his cell shaking. There were dementors that kept patrolling the corridors. But what was bad was when dementors came around, he got to see his parents whole death again. All from when Peter Pettigrew told Voldemort of the Potter's hiding place, to when the bright green light was heading towards him as a baby. 

There was also another vision. This vision was of him and Hermione trying to defeat Voldemort once and for all. Ron was there too, but he was laying unconscious behind the gravestone. 

Although there wasn't no chocolate to regenerate Harry when the dementors came around, he always got up after the shakings and the memories, and started pacing around his cell. " I'm innocent, innocent. I know the truth and that's going to get me out of here." He kept muttering to himself as he was pacing. 

But this time was different. Harry didn't get up. Instead he laid conscious on the ground. Tears were coming out of his eyes. He had lost almost all of his hope of getting out of this wizard hell. " Herms... Ron... Save me. Help me. I'm sorry." Harry muttered before he dozed off. Little that he knew, his hope was coming true. 

*****

As soon as the last person exited the building, apparated, Hermione came out of her shadowed haven on the north side of the courthouse. Slowly, she crept to the magically locked doors of the courthouse. The sun had gone down, leaving only the light radiating off of Hermione's wand and the stars for light. 

As soon as she reached the top of the stairs to the building, her eyes glazed around, making sure no one saw that she was breaking into the building. Normally, she would have been allowed in enter the building in daylight, but her unfinished task wouldn't be completed: She needed to get Harry's wand. This meant that she would have to go into the strictly forbidden room where all of the Akzaban prisoner's wands were kept as soon as they were sentence to life in Azkaban. This meant that if she was caught, she would possibly be punished, despite her role. 

" Alohomora _Quisando_!" Hermione whispered. The doors creaked opened slowly, making no noise at all. The twenty-five year old looked around her once again, before entering the building.

Hermione closed the door behind her, and started walking down the darken hallway, gripping her strap of her book bag. She was aware of every little thing. Her ears were working full time to catch any noises that might give her away. However, there was none. 

A memory appeared in her thoughts, and brought a smiled to her face. If only Harry and Ron were here with her, then this would have been like their first year. They had been running away from Filch, and his devoted cat, Mrs. Norris. During running away from the caretaker, all three of them, with one other student, had entered the forbidden territory that held the Sorcerers Stone. 

But Ron was at his quidditch party, celebrating the championship of the quidditch cup. The Chudley Cannons had won by fifty points. Ron had claimed that he would have to make an appearance at the party, so no one would get suspicious. When he had said that, Hermione rolled her eyes, and told him not to get drunk; she couldn't break Harry out of Azkaban all by herself. 

Within thirty minutes of entering the building, Hermione stood in front of the door blocking the forbidden room. Using her wand once again, Hermione opened the door. However, different from the front door, this door creaked opened loudly. Started, Hermione looked around, making sure no one heard the door opening. 

Regaining her senses, Hermione crept inside the room. It had a musty smell around it. There were millions of boxes and cartons that held the pieces of wood. There were no organization about it, just wands thrown into the boxes and cartons. A tiny moan escaped her lips. How in the world was she going to find Harry's wand within all of the others? 

Hermione kneeled to the floor. She set her bag upon the floor. " Well, better start looking." Though it was from the past, a picture of Harry's wand floated into Hermione's mind. Also, she knew it would have been fingerprinted all over, and un-polished. It also would been at the top of the boxes, but which one? Another clue was the Avada Kevada curse within it. 

For the next twenty minutes, she dug through the piles, trying to find the right one. After searching, she came up with two wands. She didn't know which one was Harry's, but one of them had to. Each of them had fingerprints all over them, dirty, and the killing curse. There was only one way to figure out which was truly Harry's real wand- bring them to the owner and have him try both of them. 

Hermione pocketed both of the wands into her bag, and picked it up. She began heading towards the front doors. As she was coming into the view of the doors, she froze; standing in front of her way of exit were two guards, each looking around them. Hope fluttered in Hermione's heart. Now what? She asked herself. 

~*~

A/N: Yes, I know, a little short than usual, but I had to stop at a cliffhanger, or else I'd been breaking my straight record of cliffhangers. Hehe. Oh- another thing. I have just continued to writing this story. It will have a lot more passion, plot, and better writing! I have kind of got better at it. 

Oh, and expect Chapter 4 at least by Wednesday. Updates will be on my bio.

  



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